JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday defended his government’s plan to hike fuel prices for the first time since 2008, a day after police battled demonstrators outside parliament.
Thousands protesting the plan to reduce fuel subsidies fought running battles with police firing tear gas and water cannon Monday, as lawmakers approved measures paving the way to lower the payouts in Southeast Asia’s top economy.
But Yudhoyono insisted escalating public anger at an expected price increase of more than 30 percent would not deter his government from pushing through the sorely-needed measure.
“We want to protect our macro economy,” he said during a speech in Jakarta. “This is important -- it concerns us all.”
Yudhoyono, who is expected to announce a hike in the coming days after parliament voted through a revised budget, also insisted that the government was “being forced into hiking fuel prices to cope with rising crude oil prices”.
Protesters took to the streets again yesterday but fewer than the previous day, when thousands demonstrated in the capital Jakarta and across the country.
The price of fuel is expected to increase on average 33 percent, with petrol jumping from from 4,500 rupiah ($0.46) a litre to 6,500 rupiah, and diesel from 4,500 rupiah to 5,500.
AFP
